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Hell will have no fury like mine: NDIS Senator Fifield warns states

CHRIS UHLMANN: The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is designed to revolutionise disability services and, in theory, allow families to be in charge of what they need.

Trials are underway and AM has been told some parts of the system are not coping. There's growing concern that state and territory governments are withdrawing support before some trials even begin, leaving people with disabilities in limbo.

The man charged with running the Commonwealth end of the scheme work is the Assistant Minister for Social Services, Senator Mitch Fifield. Good morning.

MITCH FIFIELD: Good morning, Chris.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Mitch Fifield, you said in a speech that there is a high level of frustration with the rollout of the system. Why is that?

MITCH FIFIELD: Look Chris, understandably Australians who have disability, who've been on waiting lists under state programs for years, would love it if you flick a switch and have the NDIS rolled out nationally on one day. Because of the magnitude of the exercise it has to be rolled out in a phased way.

But there's also frustration with service providers who are having to adapt from a block funded system to one where the money follows the individual and that's a significant change but providers are committed to working through the issues.

CHRIS UHLMANN: It is big, it is expensive. Can you give us some idea of the scale and the time frame?

MITCH FIFIELD: Well, at the moment there are about 9,000 people who are participants in the scheme in the trial sites nationwide and there's about $400 million that's been spent supporting them. At full rollout in 2018/19, it'll go to being a $22 billion a year scheme that supports about 460,000 people.

So it's a big ramp-up in a fairly short period of time so there's certainly a job of work to do.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Certainly, and we have been told about one family for example that spent years sorting out services for their child and now everything has to be revisited and a layer of bureaucracy has been imposed over the top of the service providers, so you can understand the frustration.

MITCH FIFIELD: Well, part of the purpose of the trial sites around the nation is to learn lessons, see where things aren't working perfectly and make adjustments before we move to full rollout. So where there are individual experiences which are not ideal, we want to learn from those.

CHRIS UHLMANN: We have been told that bureaucracy is adding a burden to carers and workers with extra paperwork that didn't exist before.

MITCH FIFIELD: Well, the individual has an option in the scheme. They can choose to manage their supports themselves or they can elect to have the NDIS agency do that for them. At the moment that's what a majority of people are seeking to do but we're determined to make sure that this is not a big new Commonwealth bureaucracy.

CHRIS UHLMANN: But you are in the process of inventing a new system, aren't you?

MITCH FIFIELD: Look, it is a new system and there's change and change understandably causes uncertainty. But we want to work through that change to get to a much better system.

And the whole rationale for the NDIS is that the state systems are broken, they're not working. People are waiting. People are not getting the supports that they need. That's the whole reason why we're moving to the new arrangements.

Yes, it is change, change can be challenging for people but what is on the other side will be better.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Are some state services ending before the new system begins? Are you worried about that?

MITCH FIFIELD: Well, some jurisdictions in parallel to the introduction of the NDIS are choosing to cease to be direct service providers themselves. Some states like Victoria, they're not really in the business of direct service provision. In the ACT and New South Wales, they historically have been. So that's a separate decision to the NDIS but it's very important that state jurisdictions do not withdraw their services whether they provide them directly or whether they fund them before the NDIS rolls out in a particular area.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Well, in the ACT the only provider of early intervention services has stopped providing them.

MITCH FIFIELD: Well we've got to work with jurisdictions to make sure that there is continuity of support for people receiving services and where jurisdictions are prematurely pulling out, then hell will have no fury like Mitch Fifield as a federal minister.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Are you concerned that there will be cost shifting and blame shifting because in the end, who is in charge of this system?

MITCH FIFIELD: Well, it's a shared responsibility of the Commonwealth and the states. It's a joint venture, a joint creation of all jurisdictions. Ultimately, it's the COAG Disability Reform Council made up of Commonwealth and state ministers which I chair that has the ultimate responsibility.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Are there enough disability workers in the system?

MITCH FIFIELD: Well, at the moment there are about 75-odd thousand full-time disability staff in the system. By 2019/20 that will need to double.

The disability workforce has doubled over periods of time before and that's going to be an important part of the bilateral negotiations between the Commonwealth and states over the next six months for the nationwide rollout, is to make sure that it's phased in a way that can adapt to the changing workforce.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Finally Mitch Fifield, one of the strongest voices for the disabled in this country was comedian and journalist Stella Young. She died on the weekend, too young at the age of 32. She was a huge loss.

MITCH FIFIELD: A huge loss. She was just a sensational human being. Yes, she was a ceaseless advocate for a better deal for Australians with disability, but what I loved most about her was that she used charm and humour to highlight the often patronising and negative attitudes that people with disability have had to put up with. She's a huge loss.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Mitch Fifield, the world could use more charm and humour, thank you.

MITCH FIFIELD: Amen, thanks Chris.

CHRIS UHLMANN: That is the Assistant Minister for Social Services, Mitch Fifield.

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